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In Lebanon, We Have No Bomb Shelters

Maya Mikdashi Beirut 21 July 2006


Today all of Lebanon is under attack, and the target is the country’s civilian population. The facts speak for themselves. Bridges, tunnels, highways, hospitals, national gas storages, and privately owned gas stations have all been bombed by Israeli planes, ships, and artillery. Churches, mosques, village roads, state electric and water plants, homes, grain silos, food factories, and trucks transporting gas and goods have been destroyed, and civilians ordered to evacuate their homes have been targeted while searching for refuge. 

Art therapy with kids in a Beirut shelter

Mayssoun Sukarieh Beirut 25 July 2006


Many organizations and volunteers have started to work with children who were displaced with their families from many parts of the country, and who are now filling the schools, parks and different establishments in Beirut. The goal of current efforts and programs is first to encourage the children to express their feelings and anxieties about the war, and second, to give some time to their parents to relax a bit during the days. In addition to drawing, many volunteers are reading with children, singing, playing, or even just sitting and talking. 

Five myths that sanction Israel's war crimes

Jonathan Cook 25 July 2006


This week I had the pleasure to appear on American radio, on the Laura Ingraham show. I was pitted against David Horowitz, a “Semite supremacist” who most recently made his name under the banner of Campus Watch, leading McCarthyite witch-hunts against American professors who have the impertinence to suggest that maybe, just maybe, Arabs have minds and feelings like the rest of us. It was a revealing experience, at least for a British journalist rarely exposed to the depths of ignorance and prejudice in the United States on Middle East matters — well, apart from the regular whackos who fill my email in-tray. 

UNHCR relief supplies blocked at Syrian-Lebanese border

25 July 2006


UNHCR relief supplies for over 20,000 displaced and distressed people in Lebanon, including many living out in the open in parks or in overcrowded public buildings, are still blocked this morning in Syria awaiting a safe route into Lebanon. It is enormously frustrating to be right on the back doorstep of Lebanon and ready to move in with hundreds of tonnes of aid, but the door remains closed. We have hundreds of tonnes of tents, mattresses, blankets and other aid which could be delivered in a matter of hours if we only had access to the country. We are exploring every option and pressing to move these urgently needed relief items as soon as possible to where they are needed most. 

UN refugee chief urges rapid response for Lebanon displaced

24 July 2006


UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said Monday that his agency is positioning more than 500 tonnes of relief supplies along the Syria-Lebanon border but urgently needs assurances of safe passage to deliver the supplies to tens of thousands of displaced people. “The plight of the displaced in Lebanon is growing more difficult by the hour and it’s crucial that we get the humanitarian pipeline flowing now,” said Guterres. “UNHCR is trucking some 40 trailers loaded with over 500 tonnes of aid supplies from our regional warehouse in Jordan to Syria. It’s frustrating that we can’t deliver this aid, particularly when there are thousands of uprooted civilians in Lebanon who desperately need it.” 

Who condemns the victimizer?

Maarten Jan Hijmans and Fadi Hirzalla 25 July 2006


With regard to Israel’s “defense” rhetoric, one should pose some key questions and consider the obvious irrefutability of their answers. Does Israel’s violence safeguard the life of the three kidnapped soldiers? No; rather it jeopardizes their safety. Does Israel’s policy of throwing bombs bring about peace? No; on a structural level Israel’s policy exacerbates the grass root level anti-Israel sentiments fundamental to Hezbollah’s existence. It also explains why Hezbollah is now shooting its missiles on Israel. Is Israel’s violence legitimate? No; Israel’s violence is, first and foremost, to the detriment of innocent civilians, not Hezbollah or Hamas. 

Annan heads to Rome conference in search of concrete measures on Lebanon

24 July 2006


With violence continuing to tear through Lebanon for a twelfth day, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan leaves for Rome today for an international meeting aimed at resolving the crisis, expressing hope that concrete measures will emerge from discussions there.”“What is important is that we leave Rome with a concrete strategy as to how we are going to deal with this and we do not walk away empty-handed and once again dash the hopes of those who are caught in this conflict,” Mr. Annan told reporters at UN headquarters in New York before his departure. 

"Live blogging" from the warzone

Rhys Blakely 22 July 2006


“LIVE blogging” from the warzone emerged as the key weapon in the “electronic intifada” that erupted in Lebanon as Israel bombarded the country. In Beirut, residents were counting down the clock until today -the point at which Lebanese bloggers such as Hanady figured the last foreigners would have been evacuated. “By Saturday, there will only be those who have nowhere else to go,” he wrote. Beirut blogger Mazen Kerbaj created a more surreal piece of reportage: a music track using samples of Israeli attacks. “I recorded two hours of bombs + trumpet from my balcony yesterday night,” he wrote. 

A War Between Neighbors, Seen From Their Back Yard

Howard Kurtz 24 July 2006


Even stories about the evacuation of Westerners from Lebanon have drawn partisan fire. Electronic Intifada, a Web site that “strives to bring the Palestinian narrative front and center,” says: “On Tuesday, when at least 35 Lebanese were killed … we had the BBC’s Ben Brown in Beirut giving a blow-by-blow account of every facet of the evacuation of foreign nationals in general and British nationals in particular. If anyone doubted the racism of our Western media, here it was proudly on display. Lebanese and Palestinian civilians die unnoticed by the Western media while we learn of onboard sleeping arrangements on the ship bound for Cyprus.” 

Protests against Israeli aggression all over Europe

Adri Nieuwhof 24 July 2006


In Europe, we are seeing the emergence of a strong movement against the Israeli occupation and against its war with Lebanon. Since Israel’s aggression began a couple of weeks ago, people have raised their voice in at least fifty-seven cities1 all over Europe, not only to denounce the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian and Lebanese people, but also to ask the United Nations and European governments to take action to stop this. The Bush administration was harshly criticised for its unbending support of Israel and for human rights abuses in its so called “war on terrorism”. In this article, Adri Nieuwhof assesses how far the movement has come.